Papua New Guinea: First UN Chief's visit - Press Conference | United Nations

Remarks to the press by Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres alongside Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape following a bilateral meeting. -------------------------- Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that Papua New Guinea has long led the charge for climate justice, as the UN Climate Conference approaches in Brazil, “the world must move faster to keep the 1.5 degrees limit alive” and also to produce a credible path to achieve the $1.3 trillion dollar objective decided in Baku during the last Climate Conference. During a press conference today (02 Sep) with Prime Minister James Marape, the Secretary-General said he was honoured to be the first UN Secretary-General to visit Papua New Guinea and to join in celebrating fifty years of the country’s independence. For the past five decades, he said, Papua New Guineans have taken on a profound task: to weave their breathtaking diversity into one people, and one country that leaves no one behind, Guterres noted. He also reiterated his “strong appeal” for the reform of the international financial architecture that “must reflect the world of today with a much larger participation of developing countries in its institutions and their decision-making process.” “This is a basic condition for them to better serve countries like yours. This includes real action on debt relief; tripling the lending capacity of multilateral development banks; and the mobilization of private capital at scale to the service of developing countries,” Guterres added. Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will address a special session of the Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence.